North Korea says it successfully fired a multi-warhead missile

North Korea successfully test-fired a multi-warhead missile on Wednesday, the North Korean state agency KCNA said on Thursday. The Pyongyang regime “successfully conducted a test of separation and control of individual mobile warheads on June 26,” the agency said, adding that “the separate warheads hit three coordinated targets.” According to KCNA, this launch was intended to test the Mirv (“Multiple Independently Targetable Reentry Vehicle Technology”) capability, that is to say the ability to fire several independent warheads using a single ballistic missile.

South Korea’s military announced Wednesday that North Korea had test-fired what appeared to be a hypersonic missile, but the projectile exploded in mid-air after traveling about 250 km above the the Sea of ​​Japan. According to the South Korean general staff, it could be a solid propellant missile, which would have encountered combustion problems because it was emitting more smoke than usual.

Threaten American regional military bases

According to KCNA, the test “was carried out using the first stage engine of an intermediate-range solid-fuel ballistic missile with a radius of 170 to 200 km.” “The effectiveness of a separate missile decoy was also verified by anti-aircraft radar,” the agency said.

North Korea has long sought to master more advanced hypersonic and solid-fuel technologies to make its missiles better able to neutralize the missile defense systems of South Korea and the United States, as well as threaten American regional military bases. With solid fuel missiles, it is not necessary to refuel before launch, which makes their deployment faster, and therefore makes their identification and destruction by the adversary more complex.

Pyongyang has been under a series of UN sanctions since its second nuclear test in 2009, but continues to develop its nuclear and weapons programs. In addition to its missile tests, North Korea has recently innovated its methods of annoying its southern neighbor, sending hundreds of balloons loaded with garbage and animal excrement across the border almost daily.

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